Tag Archives: ESCEA

Thank you to the 57 percent of voters who voted No on Measure A and to those who voted for Suzanne Fuentes and Mike Dugan. That puts our city on a better footing for negotiating with the city unions and instituting necessary compensation and pension reforms to ensure the viability of El Segundo as a city.

According to FPPC filings, four city employee unions contributed a total of $17,500 to the Yes on A campaign to raise our taxes and their pay: the El Segundo Firefighters PAC donated $5,000 on Feb. 11; the El Segundo Police Officers Association PAC donated $5,000 on Feb. 25; the El Segundo City Employees Association donated $5,000 on Feb. 28; and the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council donated $2,500 on March 11.

There’s an inherent conflict of interest when government employee unions campaign for candidates and ballot measures that will increase their salaries and pensions – and raise our taxes to pay for it. We don’t want people who live outside our city running the city for their own economic benefit.

The biggest spenders were the biggest losers. The Yes on A campaign spent $33,130 for 1,402 votes (43 percent) at a cost of $23.63 per vote. The grassroots No on A campaign received 1,841 votes (57 percent). Bill Fisher spent $19,671 for 1,545 votes (28 percent) at a cost of $12.73 per vote. One winner, Suzanne Fuentes, spent $7,927 for 2,047 votes (38 percent) at a cost of $3.87 per vote. And the other winner, Mike Dugan, spent $2,833 for 1,859 votes (34 percent) at a cost of $1.52 per vote.

Sandra Jacobs is one of two co-chairs identified on the “Yes on A for El Segundo’s Future” campaign committee website. The other co-chair is Joe Harding, who is also the treasurer of the Yes on A campaign committee. Harding was against the tax hikes before he was for them. He spoke out strongly against the tax hikes at the August 3, 2010 El Segundo City Council meeting when he was the General Manager of the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo (HaciendaHotel.com). Now he is campaigning on the opposite side, for the tax hikes which hit hotels especially hard, as an ex-employee of the Hacienda. Here is an excerpt of what Harding said as a Hacienda Hotel employee:

“You must say ‘No’ to the hotel killer tax. … A TOT, and a UUT would hit us twice. That’d be like kicking us when we’re down, and then running us over for good measure. … The City must make unpopular and difficult adjustments to their payroll and expenses. Asking businesses to pick up the bill for the City and its residents in this economy is simply is not a fair approach. The Hacienda has been and will remain a stellar business in this community. Help make sure this continues. Leave the TOT where it is. It’s working for us. It’s working for the City. … Thank you.” – Joe Harding, General Manager of the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo, speaking at the August 3, 2010 El Segundo City Council meeting, before he became an ex-employee of the Hacienda, flip-flopped, and became a co-chair of the Yes on Measure A committee to raise both the TOT and UUT taxes on the Hacienda and all other hotels and businesses in El Segundo, and to impose them on residents.

Sandra Jacobs last ran for City Council together with current Mayor Bill Fisher and former Mayor Eric Busch when they first ran for City Council. They were the three-candidate slate that the El Segundo firefighter and police unions endorsed, funded, and actively campaigned for.

Mayor Bill Fisher and former Mayor Eric Busch started their political careers in El Segundo with tremendous campaign support from the El Segundo firefighter and police unions, and rewarded them well with millions of taxpayer dollars.

See the scanned images below of the campaign slate mailer postcard sent to El Segundo voters by the two unions.

The front side of the campaign mailer shows photos of a firefighter standing next to a fire engine and a police officer standing next to a police car. It reads:

“What do El Segundo Firefighters and Police Officers Have in Common?”

The back side has the photos and names of El Segundo City Council candidates Eric Busch, Sandra Jacobs, and Bill Fisher. It reads:

The firefighters and police unions claimed that they endorsed “The Best Choice For Public Safety”. That was a lie. They endorsed the candidates who would give them the biggest pay raises and pension increases, and then raise taxes and fees on the residents and businesses to pay for it all.

Click on each picture for a larger view (will display in a new window or tab).

When then Councilman Bill Fisher was confronted at a City Council meeting about the conflict of interest created from his firefighter and police union campaign support, given that he votes on their pay raises and benefits increases, he claimed he did not know the unions were supporting his campaign!

Notice how the firefighter and police union campaign slate mailer has professional studio photos with color-coordinated matching backgrounds of Bill Fisher and the other two union-endorsed candidates. Clearly, Fisher posed for his professional photo and a copy of it was sent to the unions for use in their campaign mailer. Also, Fisher wants us to believe he did not know who was distributing, installing, and maintaining his campaign signs around the city throughout the his campaign.

Either Bill Fisher is lying, or he is too incompetent to hold any elective office. In either case, is not fit to hold a position of public trust and to be entrusted with spending more than fifty million of our tax dollars every year.

Firefighters union president Kevin A. Rehm managed the delivery, installation, and maintenance of the campaign yard signs for all three candidates – Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch. A sticker appeared on every sign with his cellular phone number. It read:

“This sign has been placed with the permission of the owner. If you have any problems with this sign please call: (310) 422-9411 We will fix the problem ASAP. Thank you!”

I called that number during the election campaign and Kevin Rehm answered. I spoke with him and asked him questions about the firefighter union’s candidate endorsements. You can do an Internet search for the following keywords to see that this is Kevin Rehm’s phone number: (310) 422-9411 Kevin Rehm.

Kevin Rehm’s annual CalPERS pension from working as an El Segundo firefighter is $172,516.08 per year according to the CalPERS Database on the FixPensionsFirst.com website at:

See the photos of the three candidate’s campaign signs with firefighters union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number on them below. The first two photos show the entire signs at a distance to make it clear the close-up photos of the sticker on the corner each sign are of the same campaign signs.

The El Segundo firefighters union installed triple the campaign signs for City Council candidates Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch at a house on the east side of town.

The El Segundo firefighters union installed double the campaign yard signs for City Council candidates Sandra Jacobs, Bill Fisher, and Eric Busch at a house on the east side of town.

See the photos below of the campaign signs with firefighter union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number (310-422-9411) on them as the sign placement and maintenance coordinator. His phone number sticker was on all the signs for Bill Fisher, Sandra Jacobs, and Eric Busch.

Bill Fisher’s City Council campaign sign with El Segundo firefighter union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number on it.

Sandra Jacobs’ City Council campaign sign with El Segundo firefighter union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number on it.

Eric Busch’s City Council campaign sign with El Segundo firefighter union president Kevin Rehm’s cellular phone number on it.

The El Segundo firefighters union even sent out a campaign letter on their official union letterhead, signed by union President Kevin Rehm, 1st Vice President Breck Slover, and 2nd Vice President John Bilbee, threatening senior citizen voters with “the possibility of our paramedics not being available when you need them” if the three candidates approved by the union were not elected!

See the scanned image of this letter and the envelope it was sent in below.

Click on the letter below to see a larger image of it (will display in a new window or tab).

Click HERE for an analysis and the text of the Senior Scare Letter on our old web site. Then click the BACK button in your browser to return to this web page.

These four City employee union gave a total of $17,500 to the “Yes on Measure A” campaign to get $6.6 million per year in return for past and future union pay raises and resulting pension increases.

There is an inherent and unavoidable conflict of interest when government employee unions contribute money and provide other forms of campaign support for candidates and ballot measures that will increase their pay and pensions, and then raise taxes on residents and businesses to pay for it.

The “Yes on Measure A” campaign claims Measure A is “supported by people you know and trust”. But if you really knew most of them, you probably would not trust them!

“Measure A – Supported by People You Know and Trust” slogan on a “Yes on Measure A” campaign mailer delivered on 3/29/2014.

Looking down their list of supporters, we find:

Four were city council candidates sponsored by the fire and police unions, who get huge pay raises in return for their campaign support – Bill Fisher, Sandra Jacobs (one of the two “Yes on Measure A” campaign co-chairs), Cindy Mortesen, and Janice Cruikshank;

One tried to steer a city contract to a friend for $120,000 when the more qualified bid was $65,000 for the same job;

One was AGAINST the tax hikes when he was a Hacienda Hotel employee, but now, as an ex-employee, he is FOR the tax hikes that will harm his former employer and the entire hotel industry – Joe Harding(one of the two “Yes on Measure A” campaign co-chairs), spoke out strongly against smaller Utility Users Tax (UUT) and Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) hikes at the 8/3/10 El Segundo City Council meeting, saying, “Most of you have seen first-hand what our industry has endured over the past 27 years.” “Our industry just can’t handle any increase.” “You must say ‘No’ to the hotel killer tax.” “A TOT and a UUT would hit us twice. That’d be like kicking us when we’re down, and then running us over for good measure.” “The City must make unpopular and difficult adjustments to their payroll and expenses.” “Leave the TOT where it is.”;

One is a former elected official who allegedly had an affair with his campaign manager, which allegedly broke up her marriage.

One was a no-show city clerk who worked full-time for another city but collected two government paychecks – Cindy Mortesen;

One is a school teacher union member who misused School District public facilities, public resources, and students to campaign for a City Council candidate – Ray Gen;

One is a police captain who made the news for bullying and harassing a city resident at his workplace for posting the public record police and fire union salaries on his website – Police Captain Robert (Bob) Turnbull;

Three crashed and disrupted the meet-and-greet of City Council candidate Mike Dugan, and heckled and interrupted him, causing some of the voters to leave early – City Council Member David Atkinson, City Council Member (and Los Angeles police officer and union member) Marie Fellhauer, and police captain and union member Robert (Bob) Turnbull;

One is the election official who runs the entire election and counts all the ballots, and should not endorse candidates or ballot measures in elections she conducts – Tracy Weaver;

And missing are the four City employee unions who contributed $17,500 to the Yes on Measure A campaign to raise our taxes and their pay.

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ALERTS

GENERAL ELECTION:Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Vote for Donald Trump because the future of the Supreme Court and our Constitution are at extreme risk if Hillary Clinton wins.

Vote "NO" on ALL Tax Measures. All taxes combined are much too high, and customers pay the business taxes that are passed on to us as a cost of doing business. The liberal tax-and-spend politicians must learn to live within our means.

Vote NO on the measure to ban the Death Penalty for Terrorists and other Mass-Murderers.

Vote YES on the measure to speed up the Death Penalty for Terrorists and other Mass-Murderers.